Chapter 2
The Dark Fae lab
Lauren sat bent over her microscope checking samples and exhaled. She was studying the skin that she had collected from the victim, but it wasn't telling her more than the assessment Bo had made.
Something or someone had drained Jake Sullivan of all of the fluids, soft tissue, even bones he had had in his body. There was nothing left of him but dead cells. It had mystified Lauren. Here was a killer, who could drain the life out of a person without leaving a trace. She thought of Bo and how powerful it made Bo when she took somebody's Chi. How powerful was this creature or how deadly was this thing?
Lauren needed more evidence, she knew she hadn't missed a thing at the crime scene. She had had her lab technicians run around collecting every sample of any and all places she could think of, but perhaps she could find something in the house of the victim. As of yet, she didn't know what this thing was, be it virus, creature, fungus,…but she was determined to find out.
The Sullivan residence
Bo's mouth dropped, Dyson's reaction was a little more collected.
'You're not Fae'
No, I'm not, but I can tell a shifter from a succubus. Jenna Sullivan said aggressively as she eyed Dyson.
Dyson's eyes shifted to black, ready for his wolf to engage. This conversation had taken a strange turn and the tension was now palpable.
Bo felt Dyson's change of mood and moved between the wolf and the human.
'Jenna, we're not here to harm you'
Jenna's eyes settled on Bo's and lost their defiance
'You're the unaligned succubus'
'You've heard of me?' Yes, I am, we're here to investigate what happened to your husband' 'We don't mean you any harm'
'You don't?' 'I guess you're here to tell me it was the Dark Fae that killed him, huh?
'Bo kept Jenna's gaze 'Jenna, I don't know who or what killed your husband.'
'We were hoping you could help us figure that out'
Jenna Sullivan nodded her head.
'I apologize' she said. 'I'm not used to the Fae being kind, or even 'decent' to me'
In fact, I've been waiting for this moment for years' Jenna continued bitterly 'I knew 'they' would kill him one day'
'They?' Dyson asked
You, the Fae! 'His family' 'All of the above' Jenna replied angrily. 'I'm human, he's Fae'….was Fae', she corrected herself.
'Tell us what happened' Bo said encouragingly.
Jenna inhaled and nodded her head before speaking. 'Jake and I fell in love at college. 'He was gorgeous, sweet, smart, funny' 'But, his family was against the relationship' 'I always thought they just needed to warm up to me, you know?'…Jenna said laughing at her own naiveté. 'I had no idea there was actually another world out there who considered me 'less' than a person.' Jenna paused, tears were running down her face. She wiped at them and blew her nose. When she spoke again, anger laced her voice.
'In their eyes, I was food, a slave at best!' 'And they are supposed to be the more evolved kind?' She let the question hang. Her look pinned the two Fae seated on her couch. Dyson's face held little expression, Bo's jaw was visibly clenched in anger.
Jenna shook her head as if trying to shake her anger, when the blonde's thoughts shifted back to her husband, tears filled her eyes again 'Jake refused to claim me, he refused to play along' 'We married, and that's when the death threats started…''I never fully grasped how powerful his family was before that' We changed our names, ran, eventually to the Dark Fae, and they sheltered us, hid us, till now…
'What was your husband's real name?' Dyson asked.
'Descamps' Jenna replied hesitantly 'Jacques Descamps'
Bo saw Dyson frown and gave him a questioning look
'How did it happen?' 'What did they do to him?' Jenna demanded to know.
'We're not sure' Bo offered.
'Can I see him?'
'I don't think that's a good idea' 'His body hasn't been released yet' 'We are still running tests' Dyson said.
'Tests?' Jenna asked with an unsteady voice 'What does that mean?' 'Why can't I just see him, he's my husband!'
Bo put her hands on Jenna's again.
'It means that we are still trying to figure out what happened to him' 'As soon as we know more, he will be released and you will be able to see him'
Bo's reassuring touch worked her magic, pulling Jenna back from the brink of a mental break. So far she had been incredibly strong, but the thought of her husband lying alone in some lab, cut open, being experimented on had been an overload to her entire being.
The doorbell rang.
'That's my sister, probably' 'One moment'
Jenna left the room to answer the door, and Bo turned to Dyson
'What's the deal with the Descamps?'
'They're one of the most powerful and wealthy families out there. Dyson sighed. 'Dark Fae, not to be trifled with.' 'I know the Jacques Descamps story, he was their only son, destined to continue the legacy/empire..' 'She could be right, this might be them.'
'They would kill their only son for marrying a human?'
'You've seen how the Light Fae treated Lauren' 'To a family as powerful as the Descamps, killing their son would be seen as the only honorable thing to do'
Bo growled in disgust. She had never understood and would never understand the way Fae treated humans.
In the background the doorbell rang again.
Outside the Sullivan residence
Lauren rang the doorbell of number 305 on North East Street. By now the police should have already stopped by to break the devastating news to Jake Sullivan's family. She hoped her presence now would be reassuring, seen as a sign that the police was hard on the case, and that it would not cause the family even greater pain.
'Lauren?' The woman behind the door asked incredulously.
'Jenna?' Lauren answered with equal surprise.
'You married Jake' Lauren said in one awful realization ' I am so sorry'
'He's dead, Lauren' Lauren crossed the threshold of the door and did what instinct told her to do, she hugged her best friend from college tightly to her.
10 minutes later
Jenna sat on the sofa, trying to absorb what Lauren had just told her.
'When can I see him?'
'We're still running tests, honey' Lauren said 'But, I will make sure he is released within 48 hours'
Jenna looked at her gratefully.
'You've always been a great friend, Lauren' 'Thank you'
The blonde gave her old friend the best smile she could manage
'I'm here if you need me'
'Jenna, did you notice anything strange about Jake lately?' Bo asked gently
'No' 'Jake was Jake'
Jenn, would you mind if I took samples from the house?' I want to see if anything 'unusual' pops up.
'No, course not, Lauren'
Lauren stood up and with her, Dyson and Bo also rose to their feet.
'I'll collect samples and stay here with her for the rest of the afternoon if need be' the blonde spoke softly to Bo and Dyson. 'I can't leave her alone like this'
Bo and Dyson nodded. Bo gently touched Lauren's shoulder eying Jenna and then resting her eyes on Lauren.
'Take care of her'
'Time for us to pay the Descamps family a visit'
'Bo, please be careful' 'the Descamps are..'
Worse than Hades, God of the underworld?' Bo quipped as she was throwing on her jacket.
'Just be careful' the blonde rolled her eyes.
'Yes, doctor' Bo said with a smirk
The Descamps residence
Who lives like this? Bo exclaimed as Dyson and she pulled up to the Descamps mansion.
It had taken them 10 minutes alone to drive from the entrance of the estate to the actual house. Now towering up before them was a Palladian manor house that seemed to emerged from the plateau it was built upon. A grand white marble staircase spanning the width of the house, and featuring a huge fountain in the middle connected the ground floor level to the terrace. Lining every other step were statues of the Greek gods of mythology Bo had come to know as 'The other side of the family. Reaching the top of the staircase, Bo thought she recognized the centerpiece statue as that of Hermes, god of travelers and thieves. Covered in gold, a 4 meter tall Hermes reached for the sky from yet another gigantic fountain.
No doubt this house was built to impress and awe, but Bo couldn't help but chuckle at the pompous grandeur of it all. Bo was still taking in the scene when the main door to the house opened and a man in his early sixties stepped out. Impeccably dressed, his eyes lingered disapprovingly on Bo's outfit.
'I think I should have worn my princess dress' Bo remarked under her breath.
'Come in' he said sternly 'The Master has been expecting you'
Bo's eyebrows raised as the room opened up in front of her. If the outside of the house had been impressive, the inside was overwhelming. She had never seen such a huge entrance hall before in her life, except for maybe that one time she visited New York Grand Central. Marble floors again led up to a domineering stairway and all around the walls and the ceilings were carved out with intricate designs, laced with gold and silver. At the center of it all was a handsome, middle aged man with dark hair and an almost boyish grin looking down on them from the landing of the first floor.
'Welcome to my house, unaligned Succubus'
'I sure do hope you're not planning on having our conversation this way, Louis' Bo shouted up ' You're giving me a crooked neck, why don't you come down a peg?' Next to her, she could feel the wolf grin.
Louis Philippe Jean-Pierre Descamps descended the staircase at an arrogantly slow pace.
'The succubus and the wolf' 'I've heard so much about you' The man dressed in an Armani suit said with an oily smile when he had finally reached the pair.
'Well, you've got me at a disadvantage then, cause I didn't have a clue who you were before today' 'So far, I'd say you were kind of a dick.' Bo replied.
'My, my, and here I thought rumors about your lack of upbringing were exaggerated 'Didn't mom and pops ever teach you to respect your superiors?'
'Superior?' 'How is that?' Bo asked with a chuckle.
'The Descamps descend from the God Hermes' Descamps said with a smug smile.
'Ah yes, those gaudy statues in the garden' 'All you need is a lightshow in your fountain and those would be just as classy as Vegas'
Descamps' face contorted and shifted from his normal features to a creature whose face was in a constant state of flux. 'Don't test me, girly'
'ENOUGH, Descamps' Dyson stepped in. 'Bo, we are here because of Jenna' he said calmer
'Yes, dog' 'that's right, keep your bitch under control!'
Dyson's eyes shifted to black as they settled on Descamps.
'You know well enough how our last meeting ended' 'Are you so keen to try me again?'
'Feisty as ever I see Dyson'
'You know what we are here for, Louis'
'I didn't have anything to do with that traitor's death' 'But, if you ask me, he had it coming'
Where were you last night around 10pm?' Dyson continued.
'In my office,… working'
Bo could hear the lie on his lips
'Working?' Can anyone vouch for that? Bo interjected.
'No, I don't exactly keep regular office hours' Descamps pinned Bo with a glare, then moved his gaze back to Dyson. 'My aides tend to have gone home at that time of night'
'So you have no alibi'
'You know just as well as I do ,Wolfy, that even if I had had something to do with Jacques' death, I wouldn't have gotten my hands dirty' 'So, you go check and double check on that alibi' 'I'm sure you have your ways to prove what I'm saying'
'You could just make it easy for me and hand me the security footage' Dyson offered with a polite smile.
'I could,…but where is the fun in that?'
This isn't a game, Louis' Dyson said firmly. 'Do you even know HOW your son died?' 'Did you not even care one bit for him?'
'My son and heir died a long time ago, Dyson' 'Luckily, I had a spare'
'I believe you remember my nephew Geoffrey'
The name Geoffrey made Dyson clench his jaw, his wolf flaring behind his eyes.
'We'll be back, Louis, and we'll be wanting to talk to your precious heir' 'You'd better have some good answers ready when we do'
'Or what?' 'The wrath of the Ash will come down on us?' 'What Ash?'
'Things are changing Dyson. Quickly. 'I'd be careful if I were you' Descamps' tone was low and menacing.
Dyson turned his back to Descamps with one final silent glare and walked out.
Only seconds after Bo and Dyson heard the gilded front door slam shut behind them, a younger man in his mid-thirties emerged on the landing.
'I take it you were listening?'
Dressed in layers of black fitting leather, the younger man became translucent for a millisecond and then materialized next to Descamps a moment later.
'Yes, father'
'Good, find out what they know about Jacques' 'Observe only for now'
'Do you understand?'
'Yes, father'
'Good' 'Honor our name, and honor our blood' 'You know what I mean'
'Always' And with that the younger man vanished into thin air.
Outside the Descamps Manor
Bo and Dyson stepped back in the car and drove off leaving the Descamps estate behind. Neither of them had expected a straight answer from the Descamps family, but at least they had an alibi to check and Bo had gotten a sense of who this family was.
'You were right' 'They could have had him killed and not even think twice about it'
'But why now?'
'Because of the power vacuum' 'You are still new to our politics, Bo, but the Descamps family has influenced local, national and international politics for centuries now' At the moment there is no Ash, there is no Morrigan, the birds of prey are circling.' 'If there is ever a time and place to show just how powerful they are, it's now'
'They're planning a coup?'
Dyson nodded 'That would be my guess'
Bo stared out of the car window, mulling over Dyson's theory, thankful for the breeze that came in. The loss of her grandfather three days ago had had a devastating personal impact, but she knew they would have to address the political fallout from his death as well, she just hoped she would be strong enough to deal with that too.
'Is there room for a new Ash and a new Morrigan?'
Dyson took his eyes off the road momentarily glancing over at Bo.
'What do you mean?'
'We united the Fae'
'Yes, against Hades' 'He's gone now'
'He's not gone, Dyson' Bo's voice carried the strain, anger and anxiety from the last couple of days as it pitched higher than normal.
'He may be back in Tartarus, but my father is not 'gone' 'Nor will he stay gone' Bo felt her entire body tensing. 'The only advantage we have now is time' 'But, I don't know how much we have of that'
'We need to think about this, Bo' 'What you're saying…'
'I know' Bo interrupted him. 'I know'
'We have to sleep on this, and we need to talk about this, as a family'
'And we will, but right now we need to protect Jenna and what is left of her family'
'I had a Fae police detail posted outside the house, but I can't guarantee their safety at night'
Bo knew Dyson was right. With The Morrigan gone, Jenna was left vulnerable, and it was only a matter of time before the Descamps would act.
Dyson took his phone out of his pocket and called his son.
The Sullivan Residence
Lauren had taken all of the samples she could think of at Jenna's place, and she had been eager to slide them under her microscope, but her friend needed her. And so, the doctor had sat with her former college roommate and had listened, had rubbed her back, made her tea and given her a sedative and two sleeping pills. When she would break down crying, Lauren pulled her in for hug. After some time, Jenna finally drifted off and Lauren draped a blanket over her, hopeful her friend would find some solace and much needed rest in sleep.
Opposite the couch Jenna was sleeping on Lauren found a place for the microscope she'd had delivered. Sliding in the last sample, she leaned in gazing into the eyepiece, then sighed, leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and arched her neck from side to side.
Nothing.
Again.
Lauren looked at the clock,…5pm. She could check the samples again, but she knew nothing would change by looking at them a third time. There were still hundreds of tests she could run, but she would need to be at the lab for that, and so Lauren found herself in a position she had rarely ever been in. She had nothing to do.
What did people do when they had nothing to do? Read, knit, go play tennis? Maybe she should pursue a hobby. Why not tennis? She knew she would enjoy watching Bo play tennis in one of her trademark skimpy-ish outfits, running…. She supposed they didn't make leather tennis clothes, but who cared? Bo Dennis looked good in E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G…Like when Bo had gone undercover at the high school as a gym teacher…
A goofy grin moved over the doctor's features.
Five minutes later and Dr. Lewis snapped out of her 'Tennis Dennis' haze. Good grief, what was it about this woman that could make Lauren reverse to her geeky awkward teenage self in an instant?
She looked over at Jenna again and saw she was still asleep. Lauren remembered spending one of those rare moments of 'nothingness' with the woman on the couch. It had been the Summer of 2005, and Lauren had just taken her final exam to become a Yale doctor. Jenna too was wrapping up her exams and to celebrate the two had watched 9 hours of Star Trek Voyager, 9 hours of mindless entertainment to restock the senses with adventures, wormholes, and aliens at warp speed, instead of dreary medical volumes, paper deadlines and exam jitters, and 9 hours of secretly crushing on Seven of Nine and Captain Katherine Janeway. Lauren smiled at the memory of the two of them under a blanket on an old couch in a dimly lit and badly ventilated room. Cheetos had stunk up the room, the rug had been one giant stain of diet coke and beer, and pillow fights had settled the debate on who had been the best starship Captain ever. It was Jean-Luc Picard by a pillow pin down in the third round! Winner, the soon to be Dr Lauren Lewis!
That night, in her own corner of the couch and Jenna in the other, had been one of the best memories of her student life. A 22-year-old Lauren knew she would be graduating with honors as a doctor from Yale University. The world lay at her feet, her Karen Beattie days lay behind her, a universe filled with endless possibilities and opportunities was opening up to her. She would specialize, of course, exotic diseases. But, she would do so in Africa, away from the safety of campus and out in the real world writing her own adventures and making a difference. Boldly so, where no one had gone before.
Life, however, had had different plans for her. Between those careless college days and now lay a whirlpool of memories and emotions. Most of dark and painful, orchestrated by the Fae, her work the only specks of light. It seemed her college friend had been dealt a similar hand. The only thing she could hope for was that Jenna too would one day see more light than dark again.
Lauren got out her phone suddenly worried about Bo and her visit to the Descamps.
Had she texted her? Was she okay?
"I'm okay, I miss you" she read on the screen. Bo knew Lauren better than she thought it seems. Another dreamy wall stare later and Lauren was pacing the room, working out how many square meters this place was.
Had they needed her at the lab, perhaps? Was there a mail from the lab? Had they found a replacement for her? She got her phone out again and called her assistant. Two rings later boring, but diligent lab technician John Harris picked up. They hadn't needed her at the lab, there had been no update on the test results –Lauren knew that had been a long shot. The results wouldn't come in for days-, and there was no update on a possible replacement. Then, something on her phone caught her attention and her face lit up in a smile.
Outside the Sullivan Residence
Light was fading as Mark Thorne stood in front of door number 305 NE Street. He had already rung the bell on four times without anyone answering. He walked back to where the police detail was posted and tapped one of the policemen on duty on the shoulder. When he turned around, Mark recognized the man as Jim Brady, one of his dad's colleagues who would come to the gym to spar with him
'Jim, did you see anyone leave the house?' 'There's no answer'
'No, let's go check it out'
Jim and Mark walked to the back of the house, and looked through the windows. Mark saw an ash blond woman curled up on the couch. From what he could tell from her breathing, she was vast asleep.
'That's Jenna, I suppose' 'But where the heck is Lauren?'
Jim got on his radio and called his colleague Jason to join them at the house. The three of them took different sides of the house looking through windows to see if they could find Lauren or if they could find one of the doors unlocked. Mark got lucky trying one of the side doors, and beckoned the police officers.
Mark's panther instincts kicked in as he silently and stealthily moved through the house. The three men secured the living room leaving Jason behind to watch over Jenna. As Jim and Mark backtracked to the hallway, they both heard stumbling upstairs, and Lauren's voice shrieking out.
'DON'T YOU DARE!' 'STOP RIGHT THERE!'
'Mark quickly shifted into full panther mode, his heart now racing, clearing the stairs in three leaps, Behind him Jim Brady's skin covered itself scales, making his skin impregnable.
One more leap and Mark's panther alter ego broke down the door of the room Lauren's cries were coming from.
'I'VE GOT YOU NOW PIKA…. ' Lauren's cry of victory was cut midsentence as she went flying midair and landed on the bed with a thud and a panther on her'
'Pikachu' she finished her sentence. The shifter turned to his naked human form again in an instant.
'Hi, Mark' Lauren said pinned down and very much aware of his naked body on top of her…
'Well,…this is slightly awkward' Lauren mumbled waiting out the minute or two it always took for young shifters to regain consciousness after a transformation to their human form.
'Lauren!' Mark flustered and turned a deep burgundy red as he scrambled to get off of Lauren hitting his head against a shelf mounted on the wall in his escape. Mark snatched a pillow from the bed to cover his most sensitive region.
'I'm sorry, I thought something was wrong, and eh, I …I transformed…hence the naked…nakedness,..' Mark rambled uncomfortably clutching his pillow.
'Oh my God, oh my God…I just jumped on Bo's wife!' 'NAKED!' He yelped horrified 'She'll go blue-eyed on me!' 'She'll suck me dry!' 'Who could blame her?' 'That's how these crimes of passion happen!' He rambled.
'PLEASE don't tell Bo about this!' He suddenly squeaked with wide eyes.
'WH-What?' NO, NO! 'There was nothing wrong, I was just playing Pokem..' Lauren broke off her sentence and offered an embarrassed smile. 'I was just playing Pokemon' The Dr. with five degrees and over a 100 published papers admitted.
'But eh' 'No reason to tell Bo about..' Lauren gestured widely to where Mark was still clutching his pillow. 'This'
'Phew!' Mark breathed relieved, then his eyes went wide again and he stormed out of the room to the top of the stairs. 'EH EVERY.. - EVERYTHING IS FINE, JIM!' 'N-NO NEED TO COME UP!'
Lauren snatched her phone from the bed, righted herself quickly and, crossed the room pulling open the closet on the far end of the room. She immediately found what she looking for and tossed a grey bathrobe to a grateful Mark who'd returned to the room.
'Thanks, my clothes are probably somewhere downstairs' 'Sorry, again' he said blushing.
'Mark, is Jim here too?' Lauren asked an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach.
'And Brad ' Mark replied as he put on the bathrobe.
'Then why is it so quiet?'
